The Dallas Mavericks (40-25) look to stay hot against the New York Knicks (27-38) this Wednesday evening. Dallas has won five in a row while the Knicks have won two straight to improve to 2-2 on this current road trip. Let’s see what the NBA odds for this matchup tell us!
New York Knicks vs. Dallas Mavericks
Wednesday, March 9, 2022 – 08:30 PM EST at American Airlines Center
The Mavericks (37-27-1 ATS) are an 8-point favorite over the Knicks (29-36 ATS) at BMR’s top-rated sportsbooks. Dallas is 4-4 ATS as a favorite of more than seven points this season and the Knicks are 1-5 ATS as an underdog of more than seven points. Will we get a close one here?
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New York won the only meeting between these teams this season in dominant fashion two months ago. Both lineups were mostly intact that night as the Mavericks were without Kristaps Porzingis (since traded to Washington) and the Knicks had neither Derrick Rose nor Kemba Walker.
The Mavericks took a six-game winning streak into that one before having a cold night. Dallas shot 8-for-37 from three with Luka Doncic going 1-for-9. Doncic scored just 21 points on 23 shots in one of his worst games of the season. His minus-24 was tied for his second-worst this season.
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The Knicks did not shoot lights out (46.7%), but they led for nearly the entire game and won each quarter. RJ Barrett had one of his best games of the season with 32 points. Julius Randle was two assists shy of a triple-double as the starters were all a plus-22 or better.
This was one of four games this season that Dallas lost by 20 points and also one of four that the Knicks won by 20-plus points.
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The Mavericks are fifth in the Western Conference and shaping into form for a playoff run. Dallas’ last 10 games have all been decided by fewer than 10 points, but the team is 8-2 in them. In just the last week, Dallas led for over 47 minutes in wins over the Warriors and Jazz, two potential playoff opponents.
The Knicks ranked 12th in the Eastern Conference, have been a disappointment ever since that 5-1 start fading. The team is 5-17 since the middle of January with no rhyme or reason to their recent stretch of play. The Knicks came out of the All-Star break with three straight losses of 15-plus points to real contenders like the Heat and 76ers (twice). A very close 115-114 loss against an undermanned Phoenix team led to easier wins against the Clippers and Kings.
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The Knicks were down 33-17 after one quarter in Sacramento on Monday before rallying for a 131-115 win. Julius Randle has been the most disappointing part for the Knicks this season, but he shined the brightest on Monday, hitting eight threes on his way to a career-high 46 points in the comeback win. This came after Randle shot 4-of-16 from the field and scored 10 points against the Clippers.
Which Randle shows up this time? Randle’s eight threes are certainly going to regress after he was 7-for-33 from three in the previous nine games. Barrett is averaging 28.8 points per game since the All-Star break and might be New York’s most reliable scoring option in this matchup.
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Doncic has poured in 76 points for Dallas his last two games, but the improved play of Dorian Finney-Smith has been helpful. In the last eight games, Finney-Smith is shooting 60% and averaging 15.1 points per game. In his first 56 games this season, Finney-Smith was shooting 43.5% and averaging 10.0 points per game. His 21 points against Utah in the last game were his second-most this season.
Prediction
Dallas’ streak of 10 games decided by fewer than 10 points is the longest in the NBA this season and tied for the third-longest in team history. The Mavericks are overdue for an easy win, and a home game against the inconsistent, underwhelming Knicks should be a great spot for that. I trust the Mavericks to cover this one for your NBA picks.
NBA Pick: Mavericks -8 (-110) with Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.
